(Video courtesy of Justin Skudder) There’s one thing we all have learned after years of dragstrip time: If things seem to be going smoothly, just wait…something will happen shortly that will raise blood pressures. For the majority of our time at the final Modern Street Hemi Shootout race at ATCO Dragway in New Jersey, things had been going swimmingly…rounds were being knocked down without breakage, oil downs, or any crazy antics. All day long, run after run, things looked absolutely peachy…the weather was cool, the sun was shining, and cars were hooking and booking. Everything you could possibly want for an end-of-the-season race.
Then ATCO got to meet John Lewis and his nine-second Dodge Challenger. Lewis has nicknames among the MSHS racers: “No-Lift”. “Fireball”. In person, John comes across as kind and a bit mellow…a fun guy to be around. But put him into his Super Pro Challenger, and Mr. Hyde fully takes over and doesn’t let go until well after the run. On this particular run, the witnesses told the story better than even he could: at about the 330′ mark, the nitrous kit hit and the car squatted like it had launched all over again. Presumably, that’s when the block windowed itself bad enough that even the engine diaper couldn’t contain all of the oil and water, and that’s when the fun began. By some miracle, even after swapping lanes and the massive spin, Lewis managed to not hit either wall. He did admit that at one point, the car was on two wheels and skipping sideways on the two that weren’t in the air, and that this just might be the scariest run he has ever had in a car. We don’t doubt that for one second.
The Jeep ran a 9.18?!